“Malignant Practice” premiered at the 2025 Milwaukee Film Dialogues Documentary Festival.
The film received support from foundations like After Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition.
The animated documentary is about a woman whose breast cancer was missed by a mammogram, only being discovered when in a later and more deadly stage.
Kristin Catalano directed the short, basing the project on the experiences of family, friends and herself going through a missed diagnosis of breast cancer.
“Malignant Practice” spotlights the flaws in the healthcare system and encourages the viewer to be their own advocate.
The women whose stories inspired Catalano are featured in live-action segments where they candidly speak to their own experiences campaigning for their own personal well-being.
Andrew Megow, a UWM film student alum and former UWM Post Comics editor, was the animator of the piece and brought to life its whiteboard aesthetic.
This intimate story is brought to life with an animation style that allows the viewer to relate and fully connect with those receiving these life-changing diagnoses.
The style is also distinct enough to display and convey the necessary emotion of the narrative.
Catalano and her narration of the film give a grounded feeling of relatability, navigating the account with a clear and guided voice.
This duo of Catalano and Megow worked on the project for nearly nine years after meeting at a Milwaukee Film mixer.
Now, Megow is working on his second children’s book while Catalano is developing a screenplay called “The Canine Sidekick,” which she hopes securing funding for could allow the two to work together again.
“I mean, it would be amazing if we could work together and Andy could get paid lots of money,” Catalano said.